Daydream girl

Will never told Gabby after all this time, that she wasn't the one who inspired him with his comic book stories. If she wanted to believe she was his muse, he would let her. But she wasn't the one he was thinking of.

Actually, he didn't even know her name. It was a while ago when he saw her on a skateboard that brought the inspiration to him. Maybe he had loved her from afar, maybe he didn't like the real person at all, yet someone in his head named Ari.

Yes, she'd given him smiles, ready to write the next adventure. Perhaps, that was what had kept him in the place he wanted to be. Maybe he didn't like the real world after all. Oh, he existed, he paid attention, he had a family, but something kept him in another world.

He wouldn't call her a fantasy nor his invisible friend. Just a character he might have been a fanboy of. Only, he'd noticed lately, that girl he'd seen once upon a time on a skateboard had traded it in for a stroller.

It left him a little sad. What had happened to her? Yes, it even choked him up if he thought about it long. She was all alone and she wasn't Ari, but a real person.

Still, he wasn't going to go out of his way for her. He didn't want her thinking he was nuts. They were strangers. They would live in separate worlds. Even if he was quite lonely, lately. He wasn't even up to drawing anymore. It was tough. Maybe it was a slump. Maybe it was time to grow up, give up his creativity. At least, until he saw how the college semester went.

After all, he'd need to find a way not to be in his ex-girlfriend's path. It was best to avoid confrontation, at all cost. He'd think on it a little longer while he put books away.

It was still July, but it would be time to start at the Uni before he knew it. Still, he would be at home. It wouldn't be that much different from high school. He was still in his ho-hum neither world.

"Excuse me," she said. Her pale eyes so bright that Will awoke from his sleepy state.

He blinked as he waited to know what book she was looking for. Still, inside, he thought he might faint as his heart raced to a new level. He tried to nod. He took the scrap of paper from her, thinking she'd wait, but she pushed the stroller right behind him, at his heels.

"I really want to be organized," she told him.

He found several books on the topic. She thanked him.

"Weren't you in my environmental science class?" Her smile was open.

"Uh, I dunno." Will couldn't quite remember. He'd taken an environmental class a couple of years back. They'd grown a garden in the window area of the commons at the high school. "Maybe."

"I thought it was you." She nodded with a smile. "Will, right?"

"Yeah." He bit his bottom lip before he could possibly smile.

"Thanks." She turned to go.

Will wanted to ask her who she was. He couldn't call her Ari. Only, he scratched the back of his head, instead. He walked carefully through the fiction area and watched her from the shelves. As soon as she checked out the books, he went to ask Effy who she was.

Finally, he found out her name was Lux.